Teachers vote for strike action: All the dates when schools in Cambridgeshire will be affected

Teachers have voted in favour of strike action over pay.

The National Education Union (NEU) has declared seven days of walkouts in February and March, but confirmed that any individual school will only be affected on four of the days.

More than nine out of 10 teachers who responded in England and Wales opted to strike, with 53 per cent responding - above the 50 per cent turnout required by law.

In the Eastern region, which includes Cambridgeshire, the strikes will be held on February 1, March 1, 15 and 16.

The Department for Education (DfE) has offered a five per cent pay rise to most teachers for the current school year, but the NEU is demanding a fully-funded above-inflation pay rise for teachers.

Paul McLaughlin, the union’s regional secretary in the Eastern region, said: “Teachers want to be in the classroom, supporting students. The fact that they have voted for strike action shows how strong they feel about being underpaid and undervalued. Enough is enough.

“We have seen successive governments since 2010 let teacher pay fall by more than 20 per cent, leading to a stampede from the profession as many teachers can’t afford to make ends meet. This situation cannot continue.

“If the government does not work with us to resolve this dispute, members in the Eastern region will strike.”

The NEU said teachers in sixth-form colleges in England, who have already been balloted and been on strike in recent months, will also take part in action on the strike days running nationwide between February 1 and March 16.

While support staff in Wales will also strike, the NEU’s ballot of support staff in schools and sixth-form colleges in England did not achieve the 50 per cent ballot turnout required by law for action.

Similarly, while school leaders in Wales will also take industrial action over pay, heads in England will not stage because the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) ballot turnout failed to meet the legal threshold. The NAHT has said it is considering rerunning the ballot in England due to concern that the democratic process was compromised amid postal disruption.

Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, the union’s joint general secretaries, said: “We have continually raised our concerns with successive education secretaries about teacher and support staff pay and its funding in schools and colleges, but instead of seeking to resolve the issue they have sat on their hands. It is disappointing that the government prefers to talk about yet more draconian anti-strike legislation, rather than work with us to address the causes of strike action.

“This is not about a pay rise but correcting historic real-terms pay cuts. Teachers have lost 23 per cent in real-terms since 2010, and support staff 27 per cent over the same period. The average five per cent pay rise for teachers this year is some seven per cent behind inflation. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, that is an unsustainable situation.

“The government has also been happy to sit by as their own recruitment targets are routinely missed. Teachers are leaving in droves, a third gone within five years of qualifying. This is a scandalous waste of talent and taxpayers' money, yet the government seems unbothered about the conditions they are allowing schools and colleges to slide into.

Dr Bousted and Mr Courtney added: “It continues to be the aspiration of the NEU and its membership that this dispute can be resolved without recourse to strike action.

“We regret having to take strike action, and are willing to enter into negotiations at any time, any place, but this situation cannot go on.

“We met with [education secretary] Gillian Keegan last week and would be happy to do so again, but no concrete proposals on teacher or support staff pay were put forward.”

And they said: “The government must know there is going to have to be a correction on teacher pay. They must realise that school support staff need a pay rise.

“If they do not, then the consequences are clear for parents and children. The lack of dedicated maths teachers, for example, means that one in eight pupils are having work set and assessed by people who are not qualified in the teaching of maths.”

Ahead of the strike ballot results on Monday, Downing Street urged teachers not to strike and inflict “substantial damage” to children’s education.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We would continue to call on teachers not to strike given we know what substantial damage was caused to children’s education during the pandemic and it’s certainly not something we want to see repeated.

“We would hope they would continue to discuss with us their concerns rather than withdraw education from children.”

More than 300,000 teachers and support staff in England and Wales were asked to vote in the ballot by the NEU, which is the largest education union. It follows a ballot of members of the NASUWT teachers’ union last week, which failed to reach the 50 per cent turnout threshold.

The full list of projected strike days are:

• Wednesday, February 1: all eligible members in England and Wales.
• Tuesday, February 14: all eligible members in Wales.
• Tuesday, February 28: all eligible members in the following English regions: Northern, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber.
• Wednesday, March 1: all eligible members in the following English regions: East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern.
• Thursday, March 2: all eligible members in the following English regions: London, South East, South West.
• Wednesday, March 15: all eligible members in England and Wales.
• Thursday, March 16: all eligible members in England and Wales.

The voting details

• In England, 90 per cent of NEU teacher members who voted in the ballot backed strikes, with a turnout of 53 per cent, above the 50 per cent threshold required by law for action.
• In Wales, 92 per cent of NEU teacher members who voted in the ballot backed strikes, with a turnout of 58 per cent.
• Support staff in schools in Wales are also set to go on strike in the dispute over pay after 88 per cent of balloted members backed action, with a turnout of 51 per cent.
• In England, 84 per cent of support staff backed industrial action, but the turnout of 46 per cent was below the 50 per cent threshold.
• In England's sixth form colleges, 84 per cent of support staff voted for action but the 36 per cent turnout was below the 50 per cent threshold.